Rain played spoilsport in the much-awaited blockbuster Asia Cup 2023 clash between Pakistan and India in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, on Saturday, meaning that both teams will share a point each.
Rain interrupted India’s innings as well and continued well into the second half of the game, forcing umpires to call off the game after India had set a rather competitive target.
Earlier, fast bowlers shared all 10 wickets among themselves as Pakistan bowled India out for 266 runs in the 49th over.
India struggled after opting to bat first in overcast conditions. The Pakistani pace attack ran rampant early on, taking the top four wickets for just 66 runs inside 15 overs.
Despite early losses, India fought back on the back of an invaluable 138-run stand between Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya.
Both departed for 82 (81) and 87 (90) runs, respectively – giving Pakistan a chance to bounce back.
At one point, India looked well set to cross the 300-run mark, but Pakistan quicks bowled brilliantly in death overs to bundle out them for 266 in 48.5 overs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi got four crucial wickets, while Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf bagged three each.
India Innings
FOUR: Bumrah hits Naseem for a four.
Mohammed Siraj walks in.
India - 261/9 - 48.2 overs
India - 261/8 - 48 overs
India - 258/8 - 47 overs
India - 252/8 - 46 overs.
FOUR: Bumrah hits Shaheen for a four.
India - 246/8 - 45 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah walks in.
India - 242/8 - 44.1 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav walks in.
India - 242/7 - 44 overs.
Shardul Thakur walks in.
India - 239/6 - 43.1 overs
Another excellent over from Naseem, just two from it.
India - 239/5 - 43 overs.
India - 237/5 - 42 overs.
Hardik moves to 86.
FOUR: Another miss-field at the covers, another four.
India - 230/5 - 41.2 overs.
FOUR: Jadeja pulls Shadab for a boundary - his first in this inning.
India - 226/5 - 41 overs.
India - 221/5 - 40 overs.
FOUR: Pandya takes charge. He pulls this one for the third boundary of the over.He moves to 80.
India - 217/5 - 39.2 overs.
FOUR: Back-to-back borders.
FOUR: Pandya cuts Haris Rauf for a four.
India - 209/5 - 39 overs.
India - 204/5 - 38 overs.
India - 204/5 - 38 overs
India - 203/4 - 37 overs.
SIX: This time, Hardik Pandya sweeps Nawaz for a maximum.
FOUR: Kishan pulls it for a four.
India - 187/4 - 36 overs.
India - 183/4 - 35 overs.
India - 178/4 - 34 overs.
India - 168/4 - 33 overs
India - 156/4 - 31 overs.
India - 149/4 - 30 overs.
India - 147/4 - 29 overs.
FOUR: Shaheen fumbles this for a four.
India - 140/4 - 28 overs.
India 135/4 - 27 overs.
India 134/4 - 26 overs.
FOUR: Kishan drives Nawaz through extra cover for a four. He moves to 47.
India 127/4 - 25 overs.
FOUR: Pandya half-pulls Shaheen for a boundary.
India 121/4 - 24 overs.
India 117/4 - 23 overs
India 108/4 - 21 overs
India 89/4 - 17 overs
FOUR: Ishan flicks Haris off the hips for a four. He is on fire.
Another big over for India. 11 runs from it.
India 83/4 - 16 overs
FOUR: Another full toss. Another boundary for Kishan.
FOUR: Kishan drills a juicy full toss for a four.
India 72/4 - 15 overs
FOUR: A fumble by Naseem Shah gives Hardik his first boundary.
Hardik Pandya walks in.
India 64/4 - 14.1 overs.
India 58/3 - 12 overs.
Six: Ishan upper-cuts Haris for a maximum.
India 58/3 - 11 overs.
Ishan Kishan walks in.
India - 48/3 - 10 overs
FOUR: Shubman Gill flicks Haris for a four. His first in 20 balls.
India - 42/2 - 9 overs
Maiden over for Shaheen.
India - 42/2 - 8 overs
12 runs from the over. It’s an expensive one for Pakistan.
FOUR: Iyer sends Haris for another four.
FOUR: Shreyas Iyer scores his first boundary.
Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill at the crease.
India - 30/2 - 7 overs
India - 26 /1 - 6 overs.
FOUR: Kohli opens his account with an elegant cover drive to Naseem.
India - 15 /1 - 5 overs.
India - 15 /0 - 4 overs.
India - 14 /0 - 3 overs.
FOUR: Rohit flicks Shaheen for another four.
India - 9/0 - 2 overs.
India - 6/0 - 1 over.
FOUR: Rohit flicks it for a four. First boundary for India.
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma at the crease.
India XI:
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan XI:
Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.